Exhibition apparatus



Sept. 17, 1940. E. w w. HOYT Q I ,2

EXHIBITION APPARATUS Filed Nov. 12, 1937 [b n/25m M N/fo r r Patented Sept. 17, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE};

EXHIBITION APPARATUS Ebenezer W. W. Hoyt, Baltimore, Md.

Application November 12, 1937, Serial No. 174,239

1 Claim. (Cl. 272-13) This invention is an arrangement by which articles intended for display may be readily exhibited to public inspection, while in fact concealed from the direct view and access of all observers.

- cealed from direct public view, and yet the image thereof may be reflected to a position of observation, in such manner that the observer is optically deceived into the belief that he is gazing directly at the article. A further object is to 15 provide a chamber of the character mentioned which will be of simple and inexpensive construction, and. equipped with adequate illumination, the parts thereof being so constructed and arranged as to produce a convincing illusive effect. The invention will be' hereinafter fully set forth and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure l is a vertical sectional view on the line I-I, Figure 3, illustrating an exhibition chamber constructed in accordance with the invention. Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 22, Figure 1. Figure 31s a front end elevation. Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional View illustrating a slight modification.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing, I0 designates a normally closed chamber of approximately rectangular shape in plan view, the walls of which are of opaque and light absorptive material, so as to reduce all light reflection to a minimum. The front end wall is provided with an observation opening II, through which an observer may view the article to be displayed.

Located within the chamber I0 is a cabinet I2, the walls of which are also opaque and nonrefiective with respect to light. It is preferred to locate the cabinet I2 at the front end of chamber ID with its top wall I3 located directly below the opening II. The rear wall I4 of cabinet I2 is provided with an exposure portion I5, through which the image of the article A on display may be exposed to a mirror I6, which is mounted on the rear wall of the chamber In. The portion I5 may be merely an unclosed opening, but is preferably formed of a glass panel, which should be clear glass, but may, if desired, be shaped in a well known manner to magnify or diminish the image of the article which is projected therethrough. The mirror I6 may be supported in any desired manner and may be of any desired construction, it being preferably mounted in guides II, so that its height maybe adjusted. with re spect to the article A and the opening II, in such manner as to produce the best delineation of said article at said opening. colored if so desired.

, Secured to the rear edge of the top wall I3 of cabinet I2 is an elongated lamp casing 18 in which is located an elongated electric lamp 1-1-9 of well known construction and mounted in such manner that the light rays may be projected through an opening 20 in the side of said casing I8 and directly onto any object A so as to clearly illuminate the same and irrespective of the size thereof. Located in the upper portion of the chamber I 0 is an opaque ceiling 2| which is inclined from a position directly above the opening II to a position adjacent the upper end of the mirror I6, and also arranged to lie approximately parallel with the general line of reflection of the image from the mirror to the opening, so as toreduce the possibility of dispersion of light entering said opening.

The mirror may be From the foregoing, it will be readily seen that the article A may be placed within the cabinet I2 so that it would be absolutely invisible as well as inaccessible to persons on the outside of the cabinet, except for the image thereof which is reflected by the mirror. The illumination of the lamp I9 is such that a Well defined image of the article A is directly projected to the mirror I6 and from the mirror directly to the opening I I, so that the observer upon looking into the chamber I0 through the said opening I I will be under the optical illusion that he is directly viewing the article A. The arrangement of the lighting with respect to the object A, the mirror I6 and the opening II is such that the illusion will be exceedingly difficult to discover.

In Figure 4 is shown a slight modification in which the chamber is arranged for the observation of the article on display from a plurality of different positions. is provided with a plurality of angularly arranged front walls I l each with an opening II therein. In. the same manner the rear wall is provided with correspondingly arranged angular portions I6, each of which is provided with a mirror It The cabinet IZ is also provided with a lamp casing I8 so positioned as to illuminate the object on display which is exposed to all of said mirrors in the manner described with respect to Figure 1, and is reflected by the respective mirrors to the respective openings H In Figure 4, arrangement is made for the article to be simultaneously In this form, the front end observed by three different persons, but it is obvious that the number may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention, by merely changing the number of mirrors and the respective observation and exposure openings related thereto.

The advantages of the invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which it belongs. For instance, it is not unusual for exhibitors to hesitate in granting permission for the exhibition of valuable museum pieces, because of the danger of theft and vandalism. By the arrangement herein described and claimed, it is possible to completely protect the article from physical access by any person on the outside of the exhibition chamber and yet the same may be satisfactorily displayed in such a manner that the average person will not realize that he is not directly viewing the article on display. A further advantage is that the arrangement is exceedinglysimple and inexpensive in construction, and may be readily adapted for the display of any kind of an article which it may be considered desirable to place on exhibition. It is to be understood that the mirrors are diagrammatically shown on the drawing without intent to limit as to type or number which may be required to reflect the image of the article on display to the desired observation position in ways well understood in the art.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described an operative manner of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made, or all of the forms of its use, what is claimed is:

An exhibition apparatus comprising a closed chamber having a plurality of angularly disposed walls at one end thereof, each wall having an observation opening therein, a plurality of angularly disposed mirrors located within said chamber adjacent an oppositely disposed angular end wall of said chamber, there being one mirror positioned opposite to each of said observation openings, a

display cabinet for the article to be displayed, said cabinet being located within the chamber adjacent to the first mentioned end wall but below the plane of the observation opening, the rear wall of said cabinet having an exposure opening through which said article is simultaneously exposed to all of said mirrors, and a source of light located outside of the cabinet at a position between the mirrors and the article and so placed as to illuminate the latter through the exposure opening, the mirrors and said observation openings being so positioned with respect to the observation opening that the article is simultaneously reflected through a single exposure opening to all of the observation openings.

EBENEZER W. W. HOYT. 

